Do they take the major your selected into account? For example, if you applied for Music in L&S, would it be “easier” to get in than if you applied for Computer Science or Biology or something? I’m not going to change my major if I get in, because I actually do want to major in music.
Also, I heard that they take demonstrated interest into account as well? My application definitely demonstrates strong interest in music, it just makes sense that I would want to major in music.
For certain colleges the major you selected does matter. For example, EECS is one of the hardest majors to get into in the College of Engineering, and as such, the acceptance rate is ridiculously low. But for L&S, major selection has no impact on your application. So it’s equally difficult for a Music major to get in when compared to a pure CS major in L&S.
And they do take demonstrated interest somewhat into account, but obviously it doesn’t “overpower” other factors like GPA, test scores, etc.
How hard is it to transfer from CAaS to College of Chem or ChemE (if you’re a chem major at CAaS)? What requirements do they expect if you want to transfer?
Well first of all there is no CAS at Berkeley, its the College of Letters and Science. And it’s pretty tough to transfer between colleges. If you want to be in College of Chem or College of Engineering I highly recommend you directly apply to that instead of applying to L&S because its ‘easier’ and then hoping that you can switch in, because the chances of that are slim to none. If you do try to transfer though, you basically need an extremely high GPA across all of your prospective major’s pre-req classes, which is a lot easier said than done
Demonstrated interest refers to your interest in the college. Examples are going on their website, liking them on facebook, or asking for an interview (however not applicable to UCB).
Does anyone know what time decisions come out? UCLA it was kind of random and no set time was released. Is that what Berkeley does? Also do they actually send an email, cause UCLA never did?
I believe that Berkeley decisions are coming out this Thursday at 6 pm. And at least in my case, I did not receive an email, you just have to keep refreshing the portal
Pretty sure I barely got accepted to UCLA… Not going to push my luck and hold my breath for Cal
@737737 Same here man, I keep thinking UCLA was a fluke XD Really nervous for Thursday (or rather Friday morning for me haha)!!
Got waitlisted in UCLA so there’s that tiny sliver of chance…
got into ucla engineering - and hope to get in berkeley L&S as a cs major! wishing everyone luck!
Does getting into UCLA increase the chance for UC Berk?
Theoretically I think this is true, but from previous posts, I see some mentions about how UCLA and UC Berk work together? to select their applicants…
@CarnegiePride Nah, they are 2 completely independent institutions in terms of their admissions. I assure you, there is no “collusion” of any sorts present. That being said, an acceptance at UCLA does not imply an acceptance at Berkeley, although you can sort of guess based on your quantitative stats (SAT/ACT, Grades…) rather than your qualitative stats (ECs, Reccos, etc). Just see Berkeley’s most recent freshman profile, you can somewhat see where you stand compared to admitted students. 
Good luck!
Would anyone go to UCLA over Cal? If so, why? Just curious
I’ll bite on that one @kvonnegut. Sure. If Cal doesn’t have a program you want, like Journalism…
@se1997 Out of curiosity, what aspect of music are you studying? I also applied to major in music!
At my high school, at least 5 people that I know of were rejected by UCSD but accepted by UCLA, and UCSD had the lowest number of kids admitted from my school (2/17) of any UC so far. So, would UCSD be a better indicator of students who are more likely to get into Berkeley? I guess we’ll see…
I’m feeling so iffy on CoE (Industrial Engineering) right now. Probably don’t even want to do engineering anyways.
@Tshiknn – Not gonna lie, I’m not too sure what majoring in music at Berkeley entails. I wish they had a music performance major because that’s what I’m truly interested in. I do know that if I get in, I’m going to audition for the University symphony orchestra. I’m focusing on classical music for sure.
@kvonnegut I was accepted by UCLA, and if I was accepted by Cal, I would probably still go to UCLA. The weather in SoCal is great! It’s always sunny. When I visited Cal, the weather was very gloomy. I don’t know if that’s the norm, but I’m guessing the area around UC Berkeley is not as sunny as the area around UCLA. Also, UCLA is much cleaner than Cal. My sister goes to UCLA, and the dorms are really clean and modern. UCLA’s dorm food is ranked #2 in the nation and is delicious. I’ve heard Cal’s dorms/bathrooms can be pretty disgusting, and the dorm food isn’t very good. Also, there are a lot of homeless people around Cal. I know that the homeless people add to the Cal experience, but I wouldn’t feel very safe late at night. UCLA, on the other hand, is in the middle of West Wood, a very affluent neighborhood, so there aren’t many homeless people hanging about. I think the overall environment at UCLA is better than the one at Cal, but that’s my personal opinion.